Tuesday, May 14, 2013

TSA Travel Tips Tuesday - Travel Tips for Campers and Fishers

We
are well into the Spring travel period where avid campers are dusting off their
gear. You either like to rough it like Bear Grylls, or you go to
your local sporting goods store and max out your plastic on all the latest camping gear.
Either way, if you’re flying commercial to your camping destination, this post is for you!

Here’s
a list of common camping and fishing related items that you can and can’t bring
on a plane:

Insect
Repellents – They
arepermitted in your carry-on bags and checked baggage. The liquid
limits apply when carrying these in your carry-on bags.

Animal
Repellants
- You can bring chemical repellants in your checked luggage if the volume is
less than four ounces and less than 2% active ingredient of either CS or CN. Most bear
repellants exceed these limitations. We suggest that you buy these items once
you arrive at your destination and leave them behind when your trip is over.

Camp
Stoves
– These can go in either your carry-on or checked bag. If you have a
liquid-fuel stove, be sure to empty the fuel. There can also be no fumes
emitting from the stove. The same goes with propane stoves. Propane tanks are
prohibited from both checked and carry-on bags. Empty propane or gas cylinders
are allowed in checked or carry-on bags as long as our officers can see inside.

Flare
Guns
– These are allowed in your checked baggage, but they have to be stored and declaredjust like a firearm. The flares are a no go.

Fishing
Rods/Poles/Tackle
- TSA allows fishing poles, but if you’re taking them as a carry-on, you
might want to give your airline a call and see if the pole exceeds their
carry-on limits. Tackle is OK as a carry-on, but be sure that you don’t have
any knives or large deep sea fishing hooks. Also, tools can’t be larger than seven
inches.

Spear
Guns
- These can’t go in the cabin, but you can check them in the belly of the
plane.

Bows
and Arrows - These
items should be packedin checked luggage. Any sharp objects packed in
checked luggage should be sheathed or securely wrapped to prevent injury to
baggage handlers and security screeners.

Lighters are permitted
in your carry-on. Torch lighters are still prohibited.

Hatchets
& Knives
- These are permitted in your checked baggage, but not in your carry-on.

If
you’re planning on participating and camping out at a renaissance festival this
summer, we ask that you kindly not carry your crossbow, battle hammer, or mace
through the checkpoint. Believe it or not, we have intercepted items similar to
these and many
other unusual items.

I'd rather have a dog walk by me at the airport to check me out than have a screener put his hands inside my underwear. That said the public deserves answers on what happened in this incident where a woman was bitten by a TSA dog. I'm almost surprised we haven't seen the "all proper procedures were followed" line in some form of a non-apology apology. Why did this happen in the baggage area? Now maybe after the Boston Marathon bombing there is a legitimate reason to search all areas of the airport with a bomb sniffing dog. A little odd though to check where bags comes off a completed flight though. It seems a little to late to find a bomb by that point. Yes anyone could bring a different bag in from outside but an unattended bag should be more of the focus then what comes off the conveyer belt.

WHAT the AIRLINES Should do is to PROHIBIT the following items either on CARRYONS, or CLAIM BAGGAGES, to AVOID possible danger to aircraft personnel and passengers.1. Any size or Type of Knives.2. Any type of LIGHTER.3. ANY size or Type of heavy Tools.

I know this is a blog and people posting comments is part of a blog but I think you should just post articles and not let people post comments to them. You end up with comments that are nonsense like above.I thought this was good information, makes you think about what you pack.

Seems alot of you are just mad at the rules. Well they have a Job to do to, just like we do at our normal Jobs. How would we like it if we had someone on our case all day while we were trying to do our jobs! Not that good.

If you do what you are told, when you are told, you have NO problems. When you go to a sporting event they can deny access. Why should it be any different at the airport? If you are not happy, stay home, or drive your own car. I'm sure you wouldn't be happy at the bus or train station either....

I thought some knives were going to be permitted to be carried on in late April? What happened to that change? It's silly to ban knives or even boxcutters. Nobody will be able to over a plane anymore with a knife. The cockpit doors are hardened and locked, plus passengers won't allow it to happen either.

Maribel said... WHAT the AIRLINES Should do is to PROHIBIT the following items either on CARRYONS, or CLAIM BAGGAGES, to AVOID possible danger to aircraft personnel and passengers.1. Any size or Type of Knives.2. Any type of LIGHTER.3. ANY size or Type of heavy Tools.

WHO knows when a DEMENTED Person feels like hurting someone!-------------------------------

Why limit these restrictions to airplanes. Somebody could use any of those items to hurt somebody out on the street or in a store. If you want to be truly safe, shouldn't the irems be banned everywhere? I'll take my chances.

Living in a free society means there are always going to be risks. Automobiles are responsible for 10 times the number of deaths each year than what occured on 9/11. Are people afraid when they get in their cars? Most likey not. Bad things can happen anywhere as we have tragically seen recently. I'm not afraid that something bad is going to happen if someone brings a knife or a bottle of water on a plane.

Anonymous said... If you do what you are told, when you are told, you have NO problems.

May 15, 2013 at 12:07 PM ---------------------------

The problem with this is that the TSA makes this difficult. I've been yelled at for leaving my liquid baggie in my carry on and yelled at for removing it from my carry on. I've been harrassed for putting my shoes in the bin and harrassed for leaving them on the x-ray belt.

By the way, if the founding fathers of our country just did what they were told, we may still be under British rule.

Seeing as how my submissions to the TSA Blog are being illegally censored I would like to point out the following.

18 USC § 242 - Deprivation of rights under color of law

Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both;

Stick to your purview with airports. Don't poke your nose into our camping activities which are ordinarily done via road transportation. We don't need your well-intentioned advice on camping activities when you are not supposed to be screening us for these. Thank you very much.

I don't understand most of these comments as people have no idea what they are talking about. Has TSA screwed up? Sure they have in some areas. But how many terrorist attacks by air have we had since TSA was created? None. People are inconveinienced once and often times forget all that TSA does/has done. I found this article helpful. The people that commented above will never be pleased. These are the people that are frequent fliers and claim to know the rules, but get caught with knives, ammunition, LGA's, etc in their bag. What's funny is I am sure they screw up daily at their jobs. My only hope is that they have people breathing down their necks. If you do not like the TSA, there are other forms of transportation you can take (bus, train, car). Otherwise, quit whinning like two year olds and move on. TSA, keep up the good work!

"The people that commented above will never be pleased. These are the people that are frequent fliers and claim to know the rules, but get caught with knives, ammunition, LGA's, etc in their bag."

Check your facts, please. I am no longer a frequent flyer, and I have never been caught with anything prohibited on me nor in my bags. I *AM*, however, a veteran of the US Air Force who takes his oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America *very* seriously, and take issue with the TSA's regular and continued violation of said document.

I also happen to have some expertise when it comes to security and nothing the TSA has done has done anything to enhance security. If anything, the TSA makes us LESS safe.

Could the be some official policy on tents? I want to carry on a tent, but all the reports on the internet are conflicting (always allowed/sometimes allowed/never allowed). Would be nice if there was an official position.